jazz improvisation

Jazz improvisation is essentially making up your own melodies on the spot, based on a pre-existing melody, a chord structure, or both. To put it into classical terms, it's like theme and variations. The common misconception about jazz improvisation is that it is just made up out of thin air. But there's actually a specific order and method to teaching jazz improvisation and in this class we will study it from 3 distinct areas:

1. Melodic improvisation - we will play and study well known jazz standard tunes and learn to embellish them and make them our own using a variety of specific techniques.

2. Harmonic improvisation - we will study our scales and arpeggios in all keys, and learn how these scales form chord structures from which tunes are based. Then we can add to our melodic improvisation by using this material.

3. Motivic improvisation - we will study the transcribed solos of great jazz musicians and learn some of the phrases that they played to make their solos sound so spectacular

We will then continue to build on our melodic and harmonic improvisation by incorporating these phrases. Obviously a course of study like this will require a good ear, so ear training will be another essential component, as well as rhythm, time, and swing feel. The end result will be a student with superb musicianship and the ultimate in creativity. While appropriate for all ages, the student should have a working knowledge of scales and chords, competence in reading, and facility on their instrument.